Stephen J. Barcik

Steve was a great man. He led several corporations and developed extended operations for Interpak Terminals in Texas, New Jersey and globally, with clients including Exxon, Dow, DuPont, Fina and many others. He held positions of CEO and President and served on the Board of Directors of several other companies.

Steve is survived by wife, Paula Sanders Barcik; son, Stephen Barcik Amstel and wife Brandy; daughter, Stephanie and husband Steven Holzbaur; son, Gregg Ueckert and wife Lisa; daughter, Beth Weldon and husband Frank; grandchildren, Samuel Holzbaur, 16, Axel Weldon, 8, Helena Weldon, 5, Lars Ueckert and Linus Ueckert, 2 ½, and many cousins.

Steve was born in the tough part of Philadelphia and worked hard to better himself. He helped provide for the family by shining shoes and grinding horseradish as a child. His parents Steve and Victoria worked hard to provide and see a better future for Steve and future generations.

He went on to Valley Forge Academy were he made excellent grades and graduated at the top of his class.

Steve attended Virginia Military Institute. During his Cadetship at VMI Steve was a cadet waiter and firefighter. He and classmates fought forest fires in Idaho and Virginia. During those times he had many adventures and was known both as a leader and troublemaker. Steve met Frederick Consolvo who was a Rat (freshman) at the time and gently insisted (not really) that Fred find dates for Steve and his roommates. Fred called his sister, Alice, at James Madison, and shared if Alice did not bring several southern ladies to the Hop his life would make a decided turn for the worse. This was the first time my parents met.

From there Steve went on to Officer School and then to Infantry Training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He kept in touch with Alice and they were married shortly after his posting to Fort Knox. Their son Steve 3rd (VMI ‘85) was born there and then Steve decided to pursue a business career. Shortly after the career change, their daughter, Stephanie was born in Delaware.

This career moved him and his family all over the place, some uncounted 15 to 18 times, including Canada and South Wales UK. As his career continued to advance he packed up and moved once more to Houston Texas. After many exciting years there, Steve and Alice parted ways.

Steve then lived in Galveston on the beach for a few years and then Miami, both locales suiting his love of sun and sand so well. Finding himself back in Houston he met Paula and shortly after they were married.

When Steve met Paula in 1999, they had an uncanny connection. Many birthday and anniversary dates were shared, along with other coincidences. The best part of Steve and Paula’s life together was the laughter they shared, enjoying each day as a new adventure.

Steve enjoyed traveling, cruising in particular, but anywhere there was sun and sand was the perfect spot for him. Steve loved to relax in hot tubs and used to say, when asked what he was doing, that he was impersonating an olive in a martini glass.

Steve was active in the VMI Community and attended Reunions and Central Texas functions regularly.

In 2011, Steve and Paula moved to Lakeway to be near their children and grandchildren. He had special nicknames for the grandchildren. Sam’s was “Sam the Man”, Axel’s was “Plumpers” (a bit hefty because you couldn't’t shovel food in his mouth fast enough), Helena’s was “Screecher” because she liked to sing so much, Lars’ was “Winston” (a little chunky Sir Winston!), and Linus’ was “Smiling Jack” because of his special grin. He also called Paula “PB” usually because he had difficulty remembering her name following his stroke in 2000, not because she loves peanut butter so much. All grandsons share the same birthday, February 14.

It was such a blessing in Steve’s life to have Paula helping him through his numerous medical challenges. The last two weeks of Steve’s life were filled with joy, laughter, renewed energy and vigor following stent surgery on December 1. He lived those last two weeks to the hilt. One of the things he enjoyed the most was time shared with Steve, Brandy and Paula, going to an all you can eat dinner of Florida stone crab claws, one of his favorites. And yes, he really DID eat all he could eat – 36!

On Steve’s last Saturday, he went to three other important events. The first was to Axel’s dive competition at UT, where he had a flawless 1 ½ dive off the 3 meter board, exiting the water while everyone was clapping for him. The second event was going to Helena’s first dance recital, where she was the fairest angel of all in the Nutcracker performance, fairly stealing the show at one point when she fluttered off into the wings while most of the other little girls were just standing and looking around rather than exiting. Steve also went to his neighborhood Christmas party where he met several new friends.

Steve never met a stranger, and was well loved by family and friends. He was outgoing and affable, his friendly and humorous way of being made him many friends. He will be greatly missed by all of us.

Visitation will be held 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 23, 2012 at Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home, 9700 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, TX 78750. A funeral service will immediately follow the visitation. Interment will follow the service at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, 2800 Hancock Drive, Austin, TX 78731.

To share memories of Stephen J. Barcik with his family, please visit www.cookwaldenchapelofthehills.com.